February 6, 2012 Centaur of Tymfi

CaliforniaMama · 02-06-2012, 01:42 PM

The "Centaur of Tymfi" stands proudly on display at Tucson's International Wildlife Museum. Also on display are the bones of a cyclops, a griffin and a unicorn.

What? You don't believe me? Look at the image. It really is on display.

Entitled "Mythological Wildlife," the exhibit aims to make folks think about how we know what is real. Hmmm. How do we know?

Once upon a time, mythology was science, accepted as part of the natural history world as perceived by the ancients.

Imagine how it must have seemed when they saw a man on horseback for the first time. They didn't see two different creatures. They saw one new and scary creature and called it a centaur.

The skull of a prehistoric elephant called a mastodon, tipped on its side, might resemble the skull of a one-eyed giant they named a cyclops.

Classicman

02-06-2012, 01:42 PM	#1
CaliforniaMama I wonder . . . Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: The Left Coast, a pretty good place to be. Posts: 1,278	February 6, 2012 Centaur of Tymfi The "Centaur of Tymfi" stands proudly on display at Tucson's International Wildlife Museum. Also on display are the bones of a cyclops, a griffin and a unicorn. What? You don't believe me? Look at the image. It really is on display. Entitled "Mythological Wildlife," the exhibit aims to make folks think about how we know what is real. Hmmm. How do we know? Once upon a time, mythology was science, accepted as part of the natural history world as perceived by the ancients. Imagine how it must have seemed when they saw a man on horseback for the first time. They didn't see two different creatures. They saw one new and scary creature and called it a centaur. The skull of a prehistoric elephant called a mastodon, tipped on its side, might resemble the skull of a one-eyed giant they named a cyclops. Classicman

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